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The New Penitential Rite Ii THEOLOGICAL TRENDS THE NEW PENITENTIAL RITE II HE MAJORITY of the writers who were mentioned in the first part of this T survey were all periti at Vatican II; so that it is not surprising to find their converging approach enshrined in its teaching. 'The rite and formulas are to be revised so as to bring out the nature and effects of the sacrament'. These are later described as 'obtaining pardon from the mercy of God for offences committed against him, and being reconciled with the Church which they (sinners) have wounded by their sins and which, by charity, example and prayer, seeks their conversion? Two years later, the Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini of Paul VI repeated this teaching, while stressing the need for an interior change of heart, metanoia. 2 Although concerned primarily with intro- ducing a change in fasting laws, the document did not confine itself to external ascetical practice, but treated of the virtue of penance, a necessary element in the christian life. It thus marks a further stage in the preparation of the new rite. It will be useful to end this section of the background to the new rite by listing some useful collections of articles which provide the reader with a somewhat fuller treatment of many key issues, as well as containing ample scriptural and historical material? These are good examples of the vital work of education and popularization which was and still is so necessary. This point was made at some length in a pastoral letter of Paul VI when he was still Archbishop of Milan. It was reprinted in a special issue of La Maison-Dieu. ~ Unless priests and faithful are educated in the liturgy, it cannot play its part in the life of the Church. This special double number reprinted the papers and discussions of two special study weeks organized in 1958 by the Centre Pastorale de Liturgie of France, and attended by several hundred priests and religious. As with the North American liturgical weeks, these national conferences represented a serious attempt to educate and prepare the clergy; and in this field France was something of a pioneer. The papers, covering topics like sin and repentance in the bible, the history of the sacra- ment, frequent confessions, the age of first confessions, still retain their useful- 1 Sacrosanctum Concilium, 72, Lumen Gentium, I i. 2 Paul VI: Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 58 (1966), english translation (London, I966). Mystery of Sin and Forgiveness (ed Taylor, M.J., New York, 197 I). Penance, Virtue and Sacrament (ed Fitzslmons, J., Concilium, vol I no 7 (January 197 Q. Rahner, K., in Sacramentum Mundi (New York, London, i969) , vol 4, PP 385-399 . Most recently, in french, La Maison Dieu no 117 (I974). 4 La Maison Dieu nos 55, 56 (1958)" 5 8 THEOLOGICAL TRENDS ness. More important for the development of the rite are the conference resolutions and the pastoral recommendations. The preaching of repentance is not confined to the sacrament of penance, a word which is inadequate to translate the biblical concept of metanoia: repentance is above all a deeply religious attitude which should grow throughout life. Repentance is both ecclesial and personal. Anyone who has read the praenotanda to the new rite will recognize that its main lines were already there in 1958. A comparison of the pastoral recommendations made by this representative body of priests and others with the actual practice of the new rite is even more revealing, both for the broad similarities, and also for one important difference. Where individual confession was concerned - the present first form of the sacrament - priests were reminded that their attitude and words should reveal the good- ness and personal love of God, with his mercy for sinners. More help in discerning basic sinful tendencies was thought desirable, while frequent con- fession as an aid to personal growth was stressed. The gestures made by the priest should be explained to the faithful, and the words of absolution ought to be heard. All these desiderata are met within the new rite, with the added bonus of an optional passage from scripture. Much time was spent in 1958 describing and evaluating various types of services of penance which combined a liturgy of the word with individual confessions. This is the direct ancestor of the second form of the sacrament. Great stress was laid on the pedagogical value of such services, and their value in the formation of a more mature christian conscience, although the possible tensions between this ecclesial celebration and the needs of the indi- vidual to ask for and receive personal advice were also noted. What was not discussed then was the question of general absolution. No suggestions were made for a form of service which would anticipate the third form of the sacrament. The nearest was a discussion of the giving of absolution collectively after a number of people had made their confession individually. This suggestion was discouraged, on the grounds that the priest acts as a judge: it would limit his freedom to give or refuse absolution if several people were to be absolved collectively. This emphasis on the judicial role of the priest was natural, particularly in view of the current canon law and received theological positions. The new rite also refers to the duty of the priest to judge the penitent's dispositions, although it softens the legalism of an earlier generation by glossing this as an exercise of the discernment of spirits. As will be seen in a later section, the new code of canon law appears to carry this modification of the older judicial image even further. By 1968, however, dVotitiae, the official journal of the Consilium for imple- menting the liturgical reforms of the Council, reported that its working party on the new rite of penance would be including a rite for those occasions when general absolution might be given without previous individual confession, on occasions when this was permitted by the holy See. 5 What had happened in Notitiae (I968), p I8 7. THEOLOGICAL TRENDS 59 the meantime? Much discussion behind closed doors, evidently. But it seems highly likely that two rather different types of pastoral situation led to the new prominence given to general absolution. The first was the case of coun- tries where there is - and has been for some time - a chronic shortage of priests. This case is specifically mentioned in the new rite, which is here echoing the Pastoral Norms issued in 1972 by the Congregation of the Faith. G But it is in this type of case that general absolution is presented as a sort of second best. Others, however, would press for its inclusion on its own merits. Here, the action of certain priests in parts of Holland may have had a role to play. Although not approved of by the dutch hierarchy, the practice seems to have been introduced. Something of the feel of this period comes across in a stimulating little book by F. J. Heggan, whose account of Services of Penance first appeared in dutch in 1964 .7 The contrast with a similar book produced by the community of Saint S~v6rin is instructive,s If the Dutch may be said to have forced the pace - thus playing a role akin to that of the celtic monks some nine centuries previously - it is more than likely that theologians would have turned to the question of general absolu- tion in any case. As well as various antecedents in east and west, there was the recent experience of the war. In I939, permission had been given to grant general absolution to all front-line troops, 9 and this was soon extended to civilians in air-raids, prisoners of war and those in forced labour camps. Those who had experienced the harshest features of war at first hand were not likely to forget the experience, and the pastoral discoveries made in such circumstances are one of the forgotten factors in liturgical revival. How long do you have to be in Dachau before coming to the conclusion that it is not necessary to wear vestments in order to say Mass? Well after the war, there were at least isolated cases of general absolution being allowed by the holy See without any subsequent obligation of individual confession. One such case occurred in 1963, and it is the task of theologians to investigate precisely this sort of case. 1° The role of the Eucharist in forgiving sins, and the practice of the eastern churches, were areas of particular interest, as well as the precise import of the tridentine decrees. J. M. Tillard, a specialist in eucharistic theology, stressed that in the Eucharist, Christ, who is at-one-ment in person, is present: the sacrament of penance spells out this particular role of the Eucharist, but Trent certainly accepted that God forgives sins, even grave sins, through the Eucharist. n It is clear, however, that in the view of the fathers of Trent, this does not happen independently of the sacrament of penance, which still G CfClergy Review (I972), pp 874-9. 7 Heggan F. J. : Confession and the Service of Penance (London, I967). 8 Community of Saint-Severin, Cor~Nssion (London 1967). Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 36 (i944). 10 Cf Morison, D. : 'The Renewal of Penance' in Clergy Review, (I 972), P 85o n 4. 11 Cf Tillard, J. M., in NouvelIe Rgvue TMologique, 84 (i 962); Concilium (Jan 197 I). 60 THEOLOGICAL TRENDS remains in some sense necessary. Starting from the practice of the medieval western Church, others came to the same conclusion.
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